Subject: UK's Tory knife crime plan a 'step backwards' Thu May 08, 2014 3:05 am
Nick Clegg has said a Conservative plan to automatically jail an offender convicted twice for possessing a knife would be a "step backwards". The deputy prime minister said the idea would "undermine the government's progress" in reducing crime. Writing in the Guardian, he also suggested the policy could turn young offenders into hardened criminals. The justice minister wants mandatory six-month jail terms for adults convicted twice for carrying a knife.